Undergraduate Catalog 2026-2027

Biophysics, Minor (329)


Program Coordinator

Ali Er, ali.er@wku.edu, (270) 745-6202

Program Requirements (18-20 hours)

The minor in biophysics requires a minimum of 18 semester hours. This course sequence is intended to serve students of the life sciences, that is, students of biology, pre-medicine and pre-dental, agriculture, environmental health, psychology, science teaching, environmental engineering, pre-veterinary, pre-pharmacy and pre-optometry. In general, this curriculum treats the physics of life processes and various applications of physics to biology and medicine. (See the Biophysics section in this catalog.)

Complete two semesters of either Introductory Biophysics (PHYS 231 and PHYS 332) or University Physics (PHYS 255 and PHYS 265).8-10
Introduction to Physics and Biophysics I
and Laboratory for Physics and Biophysics I
and Introduction to Physics and Biophysics II
and Laboratory for Physics and Biophysics II
University Physics I
and University Physics I Lab
and University Physics II
and University Physics II Laboratory
Select one of the following:4
General Biophysics
Medical Imaging
Clinical Optics
Nanotechnology in Biophysics and Medicine
Radiation Biophysics
Optics
and Optics Laboratory
Select additional related courses from the list below as needed to fulfill the minimum requirement of 18-20 credit hours for the Biophysics minor. (Substitutions to the courses below must be approved ahead of time by the Biophysics advisor.)6
Introduction to Astrobiology
Bioinformatics
Introduction to Molecular and Cell Biology
Neurobiology
Animal Form and Function
Research in the Biological Sciences (Research topics must be biophysics-related and approved in advance by the program coordinator)
Techniques and Theory of Electron Microscopy
Cell Biology
Inorganic Chemistry I
Research Problems in Chemistry (Research topics must be biophysics-related and approved in advance by the program coordinator)
Inorganic Chemistry II
Biochemistry I
Biochemistry Laboratory
Physical Chemistry I
and Physical Chemistry I Laboratory
Kinesiology
Biomechanics
General Biophysics
Medical Imaging
Clinical Optics
Nanotechnology in Biophysics and Medicine
Research Problems in Physics and Astronomy (Research topics must be biophysics-related and approved in advance by the program coordinator)
Optics
and Optics Laboratory
Total Hours18-20